Stereotypical Native American images ruin this otherwise pleasant adaptation; should the developer take advantage of the...
The infamous golden-haired mischief-maker is dressed up as a Native American in an appalling miscalculation that makes this potentially charming storybook app utterly missable.
Modern adaptations of classic folk tales abound in the App Store, since the stories are so well-known and still strike a common chord (and don’t entail pesky copyright problems). This interpretation starts out by casting Goldilocks as a young, generic (except for the blonde curls) Native American girl in a dreadful use of stereotypical images that adds nothing to the story. A totem pole, tepees, fringed skirt and braided hair are all mixed in with desert cacti in a bizarre mashup that disregards any cultural relevance or specificity. Were it not for this fatal flaw, the app might be a winner. The bears are recast from the traditional family roles as Mr. White, Mr. Black and Mr. Brown, sporting, respectively, a red bow tie, a meerschaum pipe and a monocle. When the bears politely confront her, the young troublemaker sees nightmarish versions of reality. They sing; she hears vicious roaring. They offer her more soup; she is convinced that they want to cook her alive! Goldilocks runs home, leaving the bears staring in surprise, “What an impolite creature.” The text and narration are available in eight languages, and the interface works smoothly. Background music and forest noises add nicely to the overall tone.
Stereotypical Native American images ruin this otherwise pleasant adaptation; should the developer take advantage of the flexibility of the medium to correct them, it will be a keeper. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Blue Quoll
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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